Russia Tempers Expectations for Sochi

The Olympic rings are seen at the Adler airport, outside of Sochi, Russia.

Ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russian officials have been managing the construction of one of the most expensive Olympic parks in history. Now they appear to have begun managing something else: Expectations about the performance of the national team.

Russia will potentially come in fourth or fifth overall at the games, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko told a state sports website Friday, and if the team comes in third, it would be an “outstanding result.”

Mutko called his prediction an “objective assessment,” based on a look at the Russian team’s performance in winter sports events this season. He appeared to be predicting performance in the total medal count, rather than just the gold-medal tally, though he didn’t specify.

The Russian team is under tremendous pressure. “The biggest failure would be our team losing at the Winter Olympic Games,” Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said last summer. Russian President Vladimir Putin considers the games “his baby,” according to the head of the organizing committee.

The track record isn’t great. The Russian team performed poorly at the last Winter Olympics in Vancouver, coming in 11th place in gold medals and 6th place overall. The result led to the resignation of Russia’s Olympic committee chief and widespread disappointment among Russian fans. In London, Russia did well, finishing fourth in gold medals and third overall.

“We have to adjust the training program so as to realize all (our) potential in Sochi,” Mutko told the FTsP-Press website Friday. “Our progress is serious. In many sports we are starting to win medals for the first time in a long time. Snowboarding, short-track speed-skating… Even in freestyle (skiing), we for the first time won a metal in the acrobatic discipline.”

Mutko, however, criticized the Russian biathlon team’s performance this winter and said neither the luge nor bobsled teams had lived up to their full potential. Coaches from the Russian teams will all have to account for their work when the winter season officially ends and receive a grade, Mutko said.

“Without a doubt, there will be some personnel changes within the federations,” he added.
The sports minister also highlighted the challenge ahead. “The training process is in large part a creative one. A person is not a machine. It’s hard for him to reach his peak form in a specified period of time,” Mutko said. “In this process you can make mistakes. So there exist all sorts of factors and nuances in every breed of sport that can seriously affect the result.”

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